Despite Airline Incidents, Travel By Plane Set To Break Records For Summer 2017

Despite repeated incidents aboard planes in recent months garnering some bad press for airlines, air travel has never been more popular. Airports have become busier, more people are opting to travel by plane and a record number of passengers were expected to fly in the United States for the summer season.

A record 234.1 million passengers, or 2.54 million each day, were set to fly on airlines in the U.S. between June 1 and August 31, according to trade association Airlines for America. By comparison, airlines serving the U.S. carried 928.9 million passengers in all of 2016 and 897.9 million passengers in 2015, according to the Department of Transportation.

“We will break records this summer,” said Jack Christine, deputy aviation director of Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, the second largest transportation hub in the U.S., according to The Street.

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Oakland International Airport, another massive hub, said it expected a 10 percent increase in travelers from Memorial Day last year. In addition to increasingly crowded airports, many airlines reported higher earnings than they’ve seen in the past.

“Looking forward, the revenue environment at American is very strong,” American Airlines president Robert Isom said during an earnings call. “We expect this momentum to continue.” Isom added that June would be the sixth quarter in a row during which revenue improved.

American Airlines, Delta and JetBlue all increased their quarter unit revenue guidance, while United Airlines increased its passenger capacity and revenue.

This might come as a surprise to anyone who has been following the news and its proliferation of negative incidents involving airlines that began in April when viral footage captured a bloody and screaming passenger being dragged off an “overbooked” United Airlines flight. United subsequently settled with the passenger for an undisclosed but presumably large amount.

In the days that followed, United Airlines flew a woman 3,000 miles in the wrong direction, Spirit Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights that led to a full-blown brawl in a Florida airport, American Airlines allegedly sent a black woman to the back of a plane despite her first class ticket and a man claimed he was forced to vacate a seat aboard an Asiana Airlines flight because of his prosthetic leg. In short, it hasn’t been a good few months for the airline industry in terms of public relations.

However, that won’t stop Americans from traveling in the summer months.

Read: United Airlines Flies Woman 3,000 Miles In Wrong Direction

“The airlines are seeing strong demand and improved yields in 2Q17,” Helane Becker, an analyst for investment management firm Cowen & Co., said in a report issued Wednesday. “Most of the airlines have also made positive comments about 3Q17 bookings.”

The expected increase in travel was likely the result of cheaper fares and a strong economy.

“Historically low fares, reliable operations and several consecutive years of reinvestment in the product are the primary factors underlying this growth,” Airlines for America vice president and chief economist John Heimlich said in March. “[But] a boost in U.S. employment and personal incomes and the highest-ever level of household net worth are also fueling the strong demand for air travel.”